Lauren "Ren" Ramlan is a genetic engineer and biodesigner who believes the future of design isn’t made—it’s grown. Raised in the Bay Area, California, Ren grew up exploring vast redwood forests and hidden worlds inside tidepools, fascinated by nature’s grand and intricate designs. A tinkerer at heart, she went on to study Bioengineering at Stanford, where she discovered a love for genetically modifying organisms and a dream for harnessing biology's potential through engineering and design.

Ren is now an PhD student co-advised by Chris Voigt in Biological Engineering and David Kong at the Media Lab's Community Biotechnology Initiative. Her work here reimagines fungi as architects of living, responsive materials— engineering mycelium to change color, sense the world around it, and adapt to different environments. To bridge the gap between science and design with these materials, she develops accessible biofabrication tools that empower engineers, designers, and artists to create with biology.

Beyond the lab, Ren shares the craft of bioengineering through workshops at places like the MIT Museum, LIST Center, or Harvard SysBio. She brings biology to life in unexpected ways, from traditional Choctaw necklaces woven with DNA to a 600-year-long living Doom playthrough, inspiring thousands to see biology as a medium for creativity. At the intersection of biology and design, she is building a world where nature and innovation are one and the same.